


Shiroiwa's Merry Christmas 2020

by keitaiijima



Series: Junior High Moments [12]
Category: Battle Royale - All Media Types, Battle Royale - Takami Koushun
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28203606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keitaiijima/pseuds/keitaiijima
Summary: It's Christmas season and time for Winter break for class 3B. Everyone has their own way of enjoying this time of year, but at least they all have fun.Chapter 1: Hiroshi ft the KF and Yoshimi.Chapter 2: Keita ft the neutral boys and girls.Chapter 3: Izumi ft the neutral girls and... guest stars.Note: This is part of a non-linear series all set in the same universe but can also be definitely read independently.
Relationships: Kanai Izumi/Numai Mitsuru, Kanai Izumi/Oda Toshinori, Kinda - Relationship, Kuronaga Hiroshi/Yahagi Yoshimi
Series: Junior High Moments [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059632
Comments: 11
Kudos: 3





	1. War

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas to everyone reading this! I'm hoping to finish every chapter relatively quickly if not before Christmas. I hope you enjoy this first one to start off with. 
> 
> An especially warm Christmas shout out to my friends Jolimelon, Shkanonyasutrice and PimpedOutGreenEars! I've been constantly inspired by you guys throughout this year and always grateful for all the encouragement and love I recieve on my work and otherwise.

Hiroshi Kuronaga was not the strongest member of the Kiriyama family. In fact, he was probably the weakest. Being the smallest in size, this wasn’t much of a surprise. It rarely stopped his enthusiasm to engage in fights anyway, even if he did prefer doing so with his stronger friends by his side.  
Although he was not the number one fighter in the traditional sense, there was a notable exception. One specific fighting activity where Hiroshi stood above everyone else. Other than his record in how many eggs he could shove into his mouth without choking (six), this was his greatest pride. He was the undefeated snowball war champion.

The moment snow started to fall during winter, his friends would almost refuse to walk next to him on their way to school, due to his endless “surprise attacks”. Mitsuru would tell him to “cut out the childish shit, Boss ain’t amused” (though Hiroshi thought Kazuo looked about as amused as he always did, so how could Mitsuru tell when he was _less_ amused?), and Sho would complain about his hair being at risk of getting ruined.

Having had enough of their whining, Hiroshi had let them go unharmed so far this year, despite several inches of snow already covering the ground. The snow had definitely tempted him every day, but he had somehow managed to make himself wait. He had something better in mind anyway, which he was saving for the last day of school before Winter vacation.

It was about midday when he realized he needed to get to work, if he wanted to finish the preparations at time. The last day of school was Christmas Eve and they would be off a bit earlier than usual, so he only had a couple of hours to get everything ready. Hiroshi had spent most of class trying to come up with some sort of excuse as to why he would have to bail on them, but luckily it kind of solved itself. Kazuo said he needed to pick up something from the library, and declined wanting anyone to go with him (only Mitsuru offered anyway).  
  
“Guess I can go take care of somethin’ too, then,” Mitsuru said vaguely after Kazuo left. “I need to… Talk to Hayashida ‘bout… A thing.”  
“Uh huh,” Ryuhei replied, looking more than a little sceptical. “Y’know, you’ve turned into a huge fuckin’ nerd?”  
“Fuck off. See ya pricks later,” Mitsuru rolled his eyes, heading off to their homeroom.   
“Let’s grab a soda or somethin’ from the cafeteria?” Ryuhei suggested to the remaining two.   
Sho agreed, but Hiroshi quickly shook his head.   
“Err, nah, I have to… Take a piss,” he said, cursing himself that this was the best he could come up with after hours of hard thinking. “But like, I think I wanna do it outside.”  
“What? It’s freezing. There’s a toilet right there!” Sho pointed out, nodding towards the toilets in the hall.  
“I want what I want!” Hiroshi insisted, turning around to make a run for the entrance doors. He could just hear Sho ask Ryuhei “Should we be worried?” to which Ryuhei replied “Nah, this’ll be good.”

Once outside, Hiroshi started heading towards the field behind their school, which led onto a incline, where they sometimes ran for gym. His destination was at the top of this incline, where a lot of snow had been shovelled onto the side next to the pathway. It was perfect. He was turning a corner when he noticed someone seated on the benches next to the building.   
  
Yoshimi Yahagi was staring down at her phone, her body shaking with every deep breath she took. Hiroshi paused upon seeing her, wondering if he should say something. She looked completely lost in thought, staring at whatever was on her phone screen. But with how deep her brows were furrowed together, he felt like he had to say _something_.   
“Oi, Yahagi!” he called out to her, making her jump slightly. She had obviously not heard him coming. “Yo, what’s up?”  
  
As Hiroshi changed his direction to head towards her, he got a closer look at her face. He thought her eyes and nose looked a little red, but it could just have been because of the cold. Or that asshole ex-boyfriend of hers was being a dick again. Hiroshi clenched his fists at the very thought.  
“Hey, Kuronaga,” Yoshimi replied after catching her breath. “You’re not in class either?”  
The question was pretty unnecessary, as the answer was obvious. He was _there,_ after all.  
  
“Nah,” Hiroshi shrugged, quickly thinking up an excuse as he sat down next to her. “Figured I’d have a smoke.”  
“That’s perfect timing, you know. Like, I could really fucking need one,” Yoshimi said with a deep sigh, giving him what he could easily tell was a forced smile. “Can I bum one?”  
 _Shit._ Hiroshi realized he had left his pack of cigarettes in his locker along with his backpack. Coughing, he shook his head.  
“Erm… Changed my mind ‘bout it. I’m tryin’ to quit,” he lied awkwardly. Yoshimi knitted her brows again, studying him intently.  
“That’s… Sorta weird. Is something going on or something?” she asked, clearly not buying it.  
  
Hiroshi cleared his throat, throwing a glance towards the small hill he was heading for in the first place.  
“’Kay. But you’ll think it’s dumb,” he said, buying himself some time. Yoshimi shook her head intently at this.   
“No way! Try me, pleaaaase!”  
Giving in, Hiroshi thought maybe she would actually get the fun of it. She was usually pretty cool, after all. Definitely the coolest one in her squad.  
“’Kay, thing is, I’m gonna build this fuckin’ awesome snow fort,” he said quickly. “’N then I’m gonna tell my friends to come hang out in it but really I’m gonna fuck them up with hundreds of snowballs. It’s gonna be great, like a damn missile attack. They ain’t got a chance to run!”  
  
Looking back up, Hiroshi beamed at her. Yoshimi blinked for a second, taking it in.  
“That’s it…?” she asked, her tone making it hard for Hiroshi to tell if she was disappointed or impressed.  
“Err, yeah?!” he shifted on the bench. “It’s the last day of school, so, gonna give the fuckers a nice goodbye b’fore break!”  
Finally, Yoshimi burst into a small laugh. “I think it’s pretty fucking great,” she agreed, nodding. “I’d love to see the looks on their faces!”  
  
Hiroshi lit up, having hoping she would say that.   
“Why don’t ya? Come help me out. We can finish in half the time ‘n make double the snowballs. I bet yer a good aim too, huh?”  
He couldn’t explain why, but hearing her laugh like that after just having looked so down, had given him even more motivation to succeed in his attack. But only if she got to share the fun with him too.  
Yoshimi didn’t have to think twice, she was still nodding eagerly.  
“Hell yeah! I’m gonna show you how it’s done!” she teased, jumping to her feet.  
“Oi, oi,” Hiroshi countered, standing up too. “Ya should know I’m the champion of snowball throwin’.”  
“We’ll see, hmm?” Yoshimi teased him, pulling gently on his arm. “There’s a good spot over there!”  
Pointing, she showed him the exact position he had already had in mind. Grinning, Hiroshi nodded to her.  
“Not too bad,” he agreed.

They ran up the hill at a good pace; Hiroshi pretending to aim piles of snow at her as they went along. Yoshimi both shrieked and laughed as she zig-zag ran to avoid the loose snow.  
“I thought we were friends! I thought we were a team! Stooop!” she begged playfully, finally reaching the top and taking cover by crouching down behind a lamp post.   
Hiroshi brushed the remains of snow off his hands, breathing heavily as he caught up to her.   
“Yeah, ‘kay. Peace or whatever. Let’s find a good fort spot!” he grinned, looking around the small area.  
  
Once they settled on the perfect spot, the two of them got to work. It was going surprisingly easy, as the snow was what Hiroshi referred to as in _perfect condition_. It also meant the snowballs later would be just firm enough to hurt. _Fuckin’ perfect_.  
He was surprised that Yoshimi turned out to be a pretty good builder too. Maybe building a snow fort wasn’t as complicated as he liked to believe, but she was making the perfect “bricks” for their foundation. They bult it in almost a C shape so they had a small opening where they could enter or leave the fort, as the walls themselves were just tall enough for them to sit on the ground and be completely covered.  
  
“Ya ain’t cold?” Hiroshi asked her. He gave a quick glance to her legs; Yoshimi were wearing black tights in a fabric that looked thicker than normal, but not what he would call _warm._ Not that he had much clue when it came to these sorts of things. Blushing slightly, he added. “You’re in a skirt ‘n shit…”  
“Nah. Bad bitches don’t get cold!” Yoshimi joked, finishing making a new snowball. She already had a small pile of them next to her, as they had begun making them immediately after finishing the fort. Hiroshi was right, they were making it in excellent time. They still had another thirty minutes or so before school was officially out. “I never wear like, coats or stuff when we go out in winter. Like y’know, to parties…” she trailed off.

“Huh,” Hiroshi commented, losing himself in thought for a moment. He _did_ get cold. Wasn’t he a bad bitch? What the fuck was that supposed to mean? “Weird.”  
“How many of these do we need?” Yoshimi asked, as she put down another perfectly made snowball. “Like, how many snowballs does it take to take your friends down?”  
“Fuck if I know. A shit-ton!” Hiroshi insisted, even though this was probably a hard way to measure things. “Zuki uses so much shit in his hair, it takes like ten just to make a dent in that. Actually, y’know what, if ya manage to fuck his hair up, ya win!”  
Yoshimi looked intrigued now. “What’d I get if I win?”  
Well, he hadn’t really thought that far. “Braggin’ rights, I guess?”  
“I’d love that,” Yoshimi chuckled. “Tsukioka’s hair, got it.”  
  
They kept making snowballs in silence for a while, before Hiroshi figured it was time to give his friends an invite. He brought his phone out of his pocket, sending them a quick text in their group chat.  
 _Hey, assholes. Got a cool new spot for us to hang ‘n have a cig. Get yer asses to the top of the hill.  
_ Yoshimi was peeking over his shoulder, letting out a short laugh.  
“Will they really fall for that?”  
“Yeah… I think they will be like, curious or shit. They’re gonna wanna see what’s up, y’know?” Hiroshi nodded, putting his phone back in his pocket. “Ya ready?”  
Yoshimi raised a hand, clutching onto a snowball. “Fuck yeah,” she said with determination.   
  
Hiroshi figured he could take the time before his friends showed up to ask about something that had bothered him since he saw her on the bench.  
“Ey, Yahagi… Were ya like, upset b’fore or somethin’?” he asked, throwing a snowball back and forth between his hands. “Y’know, on the bench.”  
“Oh.” Yoshimi pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging her arms around them. She looked like she hadn’t expected this question at all. Maybe she didn’t think he noticed shit like that. “Uhm, a little, I guess…”  
“Was it… ‘Cause of Kuramoto?” Hiroshi asked again. He quickly added. “’Cause I can kick his ass, y’know!”  
This made Yoshimi laugh slightly, but she shook her head.   
“Nah. I don’t talk to him at all, anyway. It’s like… Girl things I guess,” she mumbled, starting to pull apart the snowball in her hand, still hugging her knees. “I guess… Mitsuko sorta made these plans for us over the break and I didn’t really wanna do it. Y’know…?”  
  
Hiroshi wasn’t totally sure what she meant, but it didn’t sound any good, judging by her expression.  
“Like, dangerous shit? Like fights?” he asked, knowing he sounded as clueless as he felt.   
“Not really like _fights_ …” Yoshimi said vaguely, the snowball now completely destroyed. “Not really _dangerous_ either, I guess. I just… I just don’t wanna.”  
“Huh… So don’t, right?” Hiroshi suggested. He knew it was probably easier said than done. Heck, he had the reputation of being a follower too, even though he actually _did_ like the shit he got up to with his gang. “ _Are_ ya gonna do it…?”  
“No,” Yoshimi was quick to reply, no longer sounding uncertain. She looked at him, giving him a genuine smile. “No, I’m not.”  
  
Before having a chance to reply, Hiroshi heard a loud.  
“Oh, the fuck is this?!”  
He immediately recognized it as Ryuhei’s voice, and gave Yoshimi a wide grin.  
“Fuck, they’re here,” she whispered to him, smiling too. They both turned around so that they were facing towards the hill, still hidden behind the walls of the fort.  
“Ya ready?” Hiroshi whispered back, snowball ready. Yoshimi grabbed one snowball for each hand, nodding.  
“So ready.”  
“Hiro, are ya even here?” Mitsuru called out, and they could tell by the footsteps the boys were coming closer.  
“NOW!” Hiroshi cried out. He and Yoshimi popped up, throwing the snowballs at rapid speed towards the three boys. It looked like Kazuo had made the smart decision to go home.  
  
“Ow, we should’ve fuckin’ seen this comin’!” Ryuhei groaned, but was quick to start rolling his own snowballs to fire back with. Mitsuru inhaled deeply for a moment, looking like he was gathering all his inner strength to deal with this.  
“Fucker, you’re goin’ down,” he finally said, breaking into a grin too as he joined Ryuhei in the counter-attack.   
Sho was too busy covering his hair with his hands to fight back, his lips curled into a deep pout.  
“Hiro! How can you do this to _me_? And on Christmas Day!” he complained, clearly feeling very betrayed. Hiroshi only laughed, noting that Yoshimi was aiming almost exclusively at Sho. She was really going for that price. After launching what seemed like infinite snowballs, Sho’s pompadour finally looked like it was beginning to fall apart, parts of hair standing out to every direction.  
“I did it! I did it! I won!” Yoshimi cheered, before dodging just in time to avoid Ryuhei’s deadly attack.

The fight lasted a good twenty minutes before they all called for a truce. Hiroshi used Yoshimi’s presence as an excuse, appealing to Mitsuru about how he didn’t want to hurt a girl, did he? It took some more convincing to stop Ryuhei from continuing the fight, but eventually, Yoshimi and Hiroshi both emerged from behind the safety of their fort, laughing and out of breath. Sho had long ran off to go try to salvage his hair in the school bathroom.  
“That was so great!” Yoshimi was still chuckling as she walked with the three other boys down towards the school. “Thanks for letting me be on your team, Kuronaga.”  
“Yer welcome,” Hiroshi replied proudly, as if this really was a great honour. “And ya did real good. Ya really fucked Zuki up!”  
“Speakin’ of Zuki. Ya should go find him ‘n beg for yer life,” Mitsuru pointed out. “He ain’t gonna be too happy.”  
“Shit, yeah,” Hiroshi sighed. “I need to get my bag too.”  
  
“We’ll see ya Saturday, right? Early New Years celebration ‘n shit. I need to get wrecked,” Ryuhei fist-bumped Hiroshi’s shoulder firmly.   
Mitsuru nodded. “Boss’ bringin’ tons of vodka. Ya better be there.”  
“’Course,” Hiroshi confirmed. Where else would he be? He and Yoshimi watched his friends walk away, before she turned to him.  
“I guess I’ll go home too,” she said, smiling slightly. “But… Thanks for today. I had like, lots of fun.”  
Hiroshi smiled too. “Me too, yeah,” he agreed.  
  
A thought suddenly hit him.  
“Wait, hold on. Shit, I got a gift for ya. I mean, a reward. Y’know, for winnin’!”  
Yoshimi blinked, her eyes lighting up. “You do?”  
Without answering, Hiroshi ran into the school building. He had finally remembered something he sometimes put in his backpack for good luck, which he by coincidence had brought today as well. He was sure Yoshimi would like it as much as he did.

On his way to his locker, he bumped into Sho, who looked less than please.   
“Oh. _You_ ,” Sho huffed, crossing his arms. He hadn’t really been able to save his hair to any remarkable degree, so he was looking a bit shabbier than usual. “If there’s anyone I _didn’t_ want to see again this year…!”   
Hiroshi laughed, reaching to run a hand through Sho’s hair with the intent to mess it up more, but the taller boy easily dodged this by taking a couple of steps to the side.  
“Sorry ‘bout that, Zuki. But hey, perfect timin’. I’m ‘bout to give somethin’ to Yahagi as like… A Christmas gift sorta, ‘n ya gotta tell me if it’s a good idea or not!”

Curious, Sho followed Hiroshi to his locker, watching as the boy reached into his backpack. He pulled out a small teddy bear.   
“What… _Kanai’s_ bear?” Sho asked in disbelief. It was indeed the bear Hiroshi had stolen from the Kanai residence when the boys had broken into the house that summer.   
“Oi, it’s _my_ bear now. _I_ stole it,” Hiroshi insisted, though this argument probably wouldn’t hold up in Court. “I was thinkin’ I’d give Yahagi this. Or is it… _Too much_?”  
“The bear you _stole_ when we broke into another classmate’s house six months ago? Oh, honey. No, I wouldn’t say it’s _too much_ at all.” Sho shook his head, sighing.  
“Pfft. Whatever, she deserves this!” Hiroshi reasoned to himself, looking intently down at the bear.  
“True. She **did** fuck up my hair, so I would say she _does_ deserve this,” Sho agreed. Hiroshi took no note of the fact that this might not be a good thing.   
“Thanks, Zuki. Knew you’d get it!”  
  
Yoshimi was still waiting outside the school building, rocking back and forth on her feet. She smiled when she saw the boys.  
“There you are!” Unable to hold back a snicker when she looked at Sho, she covered her mouth with her hand. “Sorry about… That, Tsukioka,” she nodded to his hair.  
“I’m still the most stylish one here, darling. No need to apologize,” Sho commented, humming. “I’ll give you two a moment…”  
He walked away from the pair, but not so far that he couldn’t eavesdrop on the conversation. Sho would never miss any gossip.   
  
Hiroshi had the bear hidden behind his back, clearing his throat.  
“As the new, undefeated snowball champion I’d like to give ya… Bobo!” he said, dramatically revealing the bear to her in a swift movement. Yoshimi gasped, sounding about as excited as if this was a proposal or something of that sorts.  
“Really?! I get _this_?” she asked, taking the bear into her own hands. “He’s soo totally cute, Kuronaga! Thank you! I love hi- Wait. Did you just have him with you?”   
She looked at him with a confused expression, causing Hiroshi to blush.   
“No questions asked! Just take him!” he replied quickly, pushing Yoshimi’s hands holding the bear closer to her body. “And, y’know… Merry Christmas ‘n shit. Happy New Year. All that stuff…”  
  
Yoshimi’s smile softened as she looked down at the bear again. She nodded a few times, swallowing. She looked way more touched than Hiroshi had expected, which made him blush even deeper.  
“Yes…” she finally said, looking back up at him. “Merry Christmas and all that.”  
Deliberating for a second, she swiftly moved in to place a quick kiss on his already burning cheek. “See you next year, I guess.”  
Too stunned to say anything, Hiroshi just stared as she turned around and began walking away from him. He noticed she was gently stroking the teddy with her fingers, and he hoped she was still smiling too.

“Fuck,” Hiroshi quietly explained after a short while.   
“You know, Hiro,” Sho chimed in, making his way back to the boy, looking about as stunned as he did. “I think you’re officially the first of you three losers to get a kiss. Is this what’s called a Christmas miracle?”  
Hiroshi, still stunned by what had just happened, was still staring blankly in front of him. He wasn’t sure he believed in Christmas miracles or anything, but it definitely felt like _some_ sort of miracle.   
And holy shit was he exited to rub it in Mitsuru and Ryuhei’s faces. That might just be the best gift of all.


	2. Sledding and Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keita suggets the boys go sledding over the winter break. Some people get competative.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really great at these summaries. it's a Keita chapter so nothing I write would make sense anyway.

Keita Iijima never liked to toot his own horn, but he had to admit, he was definitely the only one with any noteworthy creativity in his group of friends. Okay, maybe Yutaka told funnier jokes, and maybe you could call Shuya’s musical talent “creative” too, but that was not the type of creativity Keita was going for. Instead, he was a fan of plots, of ideas, of… a generally fun time.

For instance, he was pretty sure (around 90 %) that he invented the concept of kebab pizza. Of course, he had never been given any credit for this. He wasn’t sure _who_ was given credit actually, but he knew the only pizza place in Shiroiwa had started selling them, and they certainly didn’t have Keita’s name attached to it.

That was besides the point. The _point_ being that Keita had a great idea for winter activities he and the squad could enjoy over their winter break. Last year, he had bought himself a brand new sled for in the hope of getting his friends to join him in a death match race. Or just any race. But the snow had melted before they got that far, and he knew now he had to make sure to take the opportunity when he could.

It seemed difficult to arrange a day where everyone were free though. Even though there was no traditional Christmas celebration for most of them (Shuya and Yoshitoki being the exception, as they lived in a catholic orphanage), Christmas Eve was still a day most families would spend time together and eat some good food. Keita could already feel his mouth watering at the thought of fried chicken and strawberry shortcake. Maybe even in some kind of odd combination…  
So Christmas Eve was out of the question.

Other than that, and New Year, most of the others expressed that they were free for the most time. Shinji however, was hard to convince. Keita had tried several times during the last day before the break.  
“What if we do the 25th?” Keita had suggested. Shinji shook his head in response.  
“I’m busy,” he replied with a small yawn.  
“26th? It’s supposed to snow more that night too, man, so it’s perfect! It’ll be all fresh and stuff!”  
“Yeah, weird, I’m busy then too,” Shinji replied again, not looking too upset about this.  
“27th? It’s a Sunday but we’re on a break anyway so I guess it doesn’t matter,” Keita attempted one last time.  
“You know, weirdly, my schedule is full for the entire break. Maybe next year,” Shinji had sighed, with a neutral expression on his face.

The other boys were watching them quietly, expressions varying between confusion and interest.  
“Mimura doesn’t have to come, right? We can always go the five of us. That’ll be fun too!” Yoshitoki had suggested, rather diplomatically. Keita huffed at him.  
“’Course Shinji has to come! Shinji’s half the fun! No offence, guys.” The other half being himself, of course.  
For a moment, Shinji’s expression had almost softened. “That _is_ true. No offence, guys,” he agreed.  
Yutaka’s eyes had narrowed playfully, and he spoke slowly.  
“Wait a seeecond… The 27th, you have plans with _me_ , don’t you, Shinji?” he said, his tone teasing. Shinji’s eyes went a little wide as he discreetly shook his head to Yutaka, silently begging him to _not do it.  
_Yutaka did it anyway.  
“ _I_ think we should cancel our movie plans and go sledding with Keita and everyone. If that’s the only chance we have to all hang together, then we gotta take it, right?”

Keita was a little surprise to find out the two had movie plans together alone. Without him. He always considered himself sort of the glue of the group. Still, this wasn’t the time to dwell on that detail. His eyes lit up as it seemed the play day situation would solve itself after all.  
“Yeah, you should do that! It’ll be awesome! And the winner can get… Whatever Christmas gift I received that I want the least!” he nodded eagerly, trying to tempt them further.  
For a moment Shinji was staring at Yutaka with a look he usually reserved for Keita, but finally resigned to his fate.  
“Fine. But I better win,” he sighed.

“This sounds like it could be either fun or a disaster,” Hiroki mumbled, but Keita could tell from his slight smile he was actually bursting with excitement.  
“Don’t be so pessimistic, Sugimura. Hopefully it will be _both_ ,” Yutaka chimed in jokingly.  
Yoshitoki cleared his throat casually, glancing over another table in the cafeteria. The table currently occupied by the group of girls sometimes referred to as the Neutral girls.  
“Hey, I was thinking,” he began, his eyes going back to the boys in front of him. “Wouldn’t it be kind of cool to invite the girls along? Nakagawa and the others?”  
He blushed a little at the mention of his crush’s name, and Keita mentally groaned. Yeah, he liked girls just as much as the next guy (though maybe not as much as he liked Shinji), but did they always have to invite them along just so Nobu and Yutaka could fail at flirting with them?

“I was thinking it’d be cool to hang out just us bo-“ Keita began, but Yutaka had already started talking too.  
“Yeah! Let’s do that! Maybe we can pair up on the sleds to go faster, and the best team wins!” he suggested.  
“There’s too many girls and too few boys,” Hiroki pointed out. Awkwardly, he added. “And what if they say no?”  
“I can take two or three,” Shinji grinned. “Some just have to get in line. Nothing new there.”  
“I guess three is your number,” Shuya laughed. “Okay, I’ll ask Utsumi before class.”  
  
Shinji nudged Hiroki a little.  
“And maybe you could ask Chigusa?” he asked with a wink. Hiroki looked horrified at the thought.  
“The last thing I want is to lose her as a friend because I force her to spend time with you guys,” he said simply, shutting the idea off immediately.  
“Fine. Yutaka, you’ll be my Chigusa for the race,” Shinji told his smaller friend, who groaned.  
“Aw, man. I was going to ask Kanai, you know.”  
“No, you’re mine now,” Shinji said with finality.  
Keita wondered if he could find any way to tempt Shinji to race with him instead, but if not, he thought maybe Yuka Nakagawa would. Maybe bringing the girls wouldn’t totally suck after all.  
“Psst,” he leaned closer to Nobu and Shuya, raising his eyebrows. “Can you tell the chicks they gotta bring cookies if they wanna come? Those chocolate chip ones Nakagawa always make. It won’t be Christmas without!”  
“When have you ever gotten those for Christmas?” Nobu asked, confused.  
“ _It won’t be Christmas without_ ,” Keita repeated, not bothering to elaborate. Shuya promised him of course they would ask, though they obviously couldn’t force her, but Keita decided that was good enough.

* * *

That Sunday they all met up near the local woods, in which there was what Keita referred to as “several good slopes” for their sledding. Keita was glad they had chosen a day not too close to Christmas, as he felt like he was still digesting some of that chicken, even days later. At least his body was at the perfect weight to gain some momentum when going down the slopes now. The gift he had brought that was what he deemed as “disposable” was a homemade pot for plants from his aunt. Keita had no interest in plants, and was sure he’d just kill them, anyway. Someone else would now soon be the proud owner of the that beautiful metal… thing.

“You got me a gift, Iijima?” Yuka had asked jokingly when she noticed the bag he was carrying.  
“Depends if you win or not,” Keita replied. “Soo… I guess it all comes down to whether or not you’re on my team,” he said, smiling with confidence.  
“Which one means winning?” Yuka asked, playing dumb before laughing. “But heck yeah, let’s do this. Let’s kick some butt!”  
A couple of the girls had not shown up, due to being away with family (Haruka) or because they didn’t want to (Satomi). Which actually left the girls in the minority.  
“I call Nanahara!” Yukie beamed, not the least bit shy about declaring this loudly. Noriko shifted a little, with a strained smile on her face, and the other girls merely laughed.  
“Oh, geez. I wouldn’t dare to argue,” Shuya replied, inviting Yukie over to join him on his sled.

Keita patted the spot on his own sled, winking to Yuka.  
“I’m not Santa, but you can still sit on my lap?” he joked, causing her to laugh and make fake gag noises.  
“Please, don’t ever say anything like that again. Even as a joke!” she begged, still laughing, as she sat down in front of him.  
“Clearly it worked! Shinji said cheesy pick-up lines only work if you’re sexy like he is, but hey, proved him wrong, didn’t I?”  
“You sure did,” Yuka agreed, finally able to stop her laugher.  
  


The rest of the boys seemed to sort out quickly who should ride with whom. Shuya and Shinji both nudged Nobu and Yutaka to ask the girls they had a crush on, Noriko and Izumi, to be on their team. That left Chisato standing there, looking a little uncomfortable, before Shinji had suggested she should join him.  
“Saved the best for last,” he winked, making Chisato’s cheeks glow red but still left her smiling from ear to ear as she got on his sled.  
Hiroki was left with no partner, but didn’t seem to mind.  
“Watch Sugimura win anyway,” Shuya chuckled, as everyone were ready at the top.  
“Please, Nanahara. I always win. Do not drag me down!” Yukie smiled, holding onto the rope of the sled.

“Man, everyone’s so competitive. That almost makes me wanna keep that dumb pot for myself,” Keita mumbled, wondering if he was making a mistake giving it up. Of course, the others didn’t even know that was the price, and were just competitive by nature, but he didn’t consider that.  
“The what?” Yuka asked, sounding sceptical. “Iijima, tell me there’s a _real_ prize…”  
“Okay, everyone ready? One, two, three, GO!” Keita interrupted her, kicking his sled to get a head-start. Several of the others were unprepared, including Yukie and Shuya, and he could hear her yell dramatically as others made it down ahead of them.

Due to the speed making the snow blow into his eyes, Keita couldn’t really see much. He did however catch a glimpse of Shinji and Chisato’s sled from the corner of his eye. He thought he could see Hiroki in a flash too.  
“No! I’ve played Mario Kart way too much to lose here!” he yelled, not sure if Yuka could hear him or not. “Lean!”  
He wasn’t sure if leaning forwards really did anything, but he felt like it did help them go a little faster.

Keita realized they hadn’t exactly agreed what the finish line was, but his sled ultimately did get to a stop. Behind them, Shinji and Chisato’s sled hit a small bump, throwing it into the air and causing it to land not too far from theirs. The riders however were thrown off too, a few feet ahead.  
Keita and Yuka were both laughing from the rush, getting off of their sled.  
“We won, right? I think we won!”  
“No way,” Shinji argued, getting to his feet and brushing snow off of himself. He also helped Chisato up, and she was still wearing the same blush and dopey smile from before. “We landed way further than you.”  
“You’re not even on your sled!” Yuka argued, still laughing. “That doesn’t count! Besides, it was first ones down, not who sled the farthest. Right?”  
Keita thought very hard, his brows furrowed slightly.  
“Eeeh… I dunno if it was clear?” he had to admit. “And our sleds sorta line up. Maybe we…-“  
“- We need a rematch,” Shinji demanded swiftly. “I won’t accept this.”

Keita was happy to see Shinji so engaged in the race. Clearly he was having a great time too! The others had made it down not long after the first two teams. Somehow Hiroki did make it third, despite being alone. Keita had to ask him about his technique. Maybe he secretly practiced sledding in his spare time?  
As they made their way back to the top of the slope again, Keita felt himself get more and more excited. A duel against Shinji! Kind of! A classic best friend thing to do.

The teams got their two sleds ready at the edge again, but before they could get on, Keita felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Shinji.  
“Hey,” he said, as if they hadn’t just spent an hour together anyway.  
“Hey! Friend turned foe,” Keita joked, bumping his fist softly at Shinji’s shoulder.  
“Yes,” Shinji agreed without skipping a beat. “Want to come with me over there for a second? I got something for you. Kinda,” he nodded to the right, where they had parked the leftover sleds that had been unnecessary when they got into pairs.  
Keita could feel himself smile like an idiot.  
“Yeah! Wow, you got me like, a gift? Awesome!” he beamed, following Shinji like a puppy over to the edge at the opposite side.

Shinji sat down at one of the sleds, reaching for his backpack. They had left their other belongings there too, which contained snacks and hot chocolate. At least Keita’s did. Maybe one of these people were total freaks and had brought a “healthy lunch” like a salad. He could picture Utsumi doing that.  
“Hey, what’s up here?”  
Yutaka had followed them too, looking curiously at the pair. Keita felt a little bad for him being left out; it couldn’t be easy being Shinji’s second best friend.  
“Shinji’s just giving me a gift!” he said, not able to hide his excitement.  
“Ish,” Shinji corrected him, handing him a small, wrapped giftbox.  
“Wow,” Yutaka said, actually sounding surprised. “I didn’t think we were doing gifts this year?”  
Shinji gave him an apologetic shrug, as Keita tore the wrapping off at the speed of light.

It was a simple black box. It looked a little like a jewellery box of sorts. That was crazy, Shinji would never propose like this, would he? And he probably wouldn’t propose to Keita at all, if he was being realistic. Curious, he opened the lid of the box. It contained a tiny Santa hat made out of felt fabric.  
“It’s for Tobi,” Shinji explained, his tone softer now. Tobi was Keita’s hamster, who Shinji had taken quite a liking too.  
“Awesome,” Keita said, honestly touched. “Wow, thanks, it’s so cool. Even if I’m starting to think you like Tobi more than me!” he joked.  
“Yeah,” Shinji nodded. “You have to send me a photo of him wearing it. I made it, you know.”  
“You made this? Even cooler!” Keita exclaimed eagerly, impressed by the skill.  
Yutaka stared at them both like they were visiting from an alien planet.  
“You made this. For a hamster,” he observed. It was as if every joke was too obvious right now. “You made this.”  
“Yeah, I’m artistic too, guess I’m the whole package now,” Shinji sighed, getting back up. “Try not to fall in love.”

Keita smiled as he put the gift back into his own backpack. He didn’t even care that he wasn’t for him; this was even better.  
“He’ll love it, man. I wish I’d gotten something for you now! Now I’m kinda rooting for you to win this race,” he sighed, feeling slightly guilty. Not that winning that thing would really make up for anything.  
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Shinji said ominously, as he put his hands on Keita’s shoulders.  
Leaning in, he whispered into the boy’s ear. “Goodbye, Iijima.” Under his breath he added a quiet "forever".   
  
Before he realized what was happening, Shinji had given his sled a strong push, sending Keita down the slope in a completely different direction than their set racing course. This one led directly into the thicker area of the woods, tall trees blocking any view into the area of all.  
Shinji and Yutaka watched as Keita disappeared into the woods, hearing his cries of either joy or horror as he went downwards. Though his arms were raised high into the air, so he probably was happy.  
“Shinji,” Yutaka laughed when they no longer saw Keita. “What if he crashes into one of those trees?”  
“Oh no,” Shinji deadpanned, already turning back to walk towards the group. “Hey, since Iijima ditched, I’ll declare my team the winner. Do you want to go down the slope with me once for fun now that that’s settled?”  
“Sure,” Yutaka agreed with an airy laugh.  
“I mean, I’m not Santa, but you can still sit on my –“  
“- Stop,” Yutaka laughed louder. “Not even you are sexy enough to pull off a line like that.”  
Shinji looked slightly offended, raising a brow. “We’ll see about that.”

At the bottom of the slope, Keita was scrambling to his feet after coming to a stop, barely avoiding the trees surrounding him. Shinji had used a dirty trick, but he didn’t mind. If his best friend wanted to win that badly, he would let him. That could be his gift. Ultimately, he was just happy everyone were having such a good time. And rumours had it, there was a bag of cookies waiting for them in Noriko's backpack. This is what he was focused on as he ran back up the hill, a wide grin on his face.


	3. The Sweetest Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izumi recieved an unexpected gift for Christmas and isn't sure how to deal with it like a normal person. She also has the annual Oda family Christmas party to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I finished before Christmas!  
> Merry Christmas again, I hope you like it. I wanted to do something Christmasy with all my favourite BR squads.

Izumi’s Christmas has started out better than she had ever expected, though it had also given her a lot to think about. This wasn't much of a surprise; she did tend to worry about the smallest thing. The last day of school was Christmas Eve, and whilst she and her friends did typically exchange gifts after school on this day, she had obviously not expected anything from anyone other than them. So when she walked into their homeroom after the midday break to find something laying on her desk, she was genuinely surprised.  
“Wow, score!” Yuka commented, seeing it too. “Did someone forget that?!”  
  
Izumi picked it up, blinking. It was the delicious chocolate chip cookie they sold in the cafeteria. Now, it probably didn’t seem all that weird to find it there, as they were sold at school and like Yuka said, someone could have just forgotten it on her desk by a total coincidence. But under it was a small note with a message scribbled down on it.  
“Your fav. Merry Xmas.”  
  
Sliding the small piece of paper into the pocket of her jacket, Izumi was quick to sit down. She hoped no one were paying attention to her, because if they were, they would see her usually pale cheeks light up in a pink flush.  
Mitsuru Numai knew she liked these cookies. When they had studied together to prepare for the summer exams, he had brought her one as a thank you for helping him out. And now she had received another one. No, it was hardly a coincidence. A dumb smile on her face, she put the cookie into her backpack, not sure if she would ever bring herself to eat it. Or was it creepy not to? She wasn’t sure.  
  
She could feel butterflies dance around in her stomach during the entire class. Usually she loved Hayashida-sensei’s class, but now she could hardly focus at all. She needed to go over to Mitsuru and thank him when class ended. Which meant she had to rehearse what to say. It probably seemed simple to just grab a hold of him and thank him casually, but it wasn’t simple at all to her. In fact, her brain felt like a melted mess anytime she approached him. And he would probably be with his friends too, making it extra challenging. She didn’t think she could handle any teasing from them. It certainly wasn’t something she would expose herself to willingly, not during Christmas time at least.

When class was finally over, Izumi felt like she hadn’t really gotten anywhere with her silent rehearsal of her thanks. But it was now or never, as it would seem rather weird to wait until after the break was over to say anything.  
Standing up, she could almost feel her legs tremble. _Yes, look terrified, that’s attractive,_ she told herself, hating how she couldn’t fake confidence for even a minute.  
She saw that the Kiriyama Family were already on their feet too, looking like they were in a hurry to get out.

As they were approaching the front of the classroom, Izumi made eye-contact with Mitsuru. Feeling her face heat up, she gave him what she hoped was a soft, and not terrified, smile. He gave her a warm smile back, looking like he was maybe about to stop and say something.  
“Kanai,” a voice said, coming from the front of her desk. Jumping at the sudden noise, Izumi turned to look at the person standing in front of her. It was Toshinori Oda, and he was wearing a neutral expression on his face.  
“Oh, Oda-kun,” Izumi greeted, giving him a small bow. Why had she done that? Who bows saying hey to a classmate? Why was she so weird? “Sorry. Hello.”  
“Yes, hello,” Toshinori repeated, sounding almost amused. “I wanted to talk to you about my father’s Christmas party tomorrow.”  
The Oda family always threw an annual Christmas party, and it was always a pretty big event. Everything from the music to the decorations and the food was amazing, and Izumi was always quite excited to go. Of course, her family were natural guests at the party that did not just include the elite of Shiroiwa, but from all over the Kagawa district. Mr. Oda had many rich and powerful business connections, after all.  
“I’m looking forward to it a lot,” Izumi told Toshinori honestly. She noticed that the Kiriyama Family, including Mitsuru, had left by now. _Oh, no._ “Is there anything you need from me? I’ll be happy to help out.”  
  
Toshinori cleared his throat.  
“ _Need_ is a strong word. I suppose you can say I have a…request.”  
Izumi nodded, listening intently. Even if she had offered to help, she was a bit worried she would be asked to do something too advanced. She didn’t want to be the reason the whole party broke down.  
“You play the piano, do you not? I seem to remember it from your father’s summer banquet,” Toshinori continued.  
Izumi smiled, though feeling her nervousness grow. “I do, a little bit. Though nothing like how you play the violin,” she said modestly.  
“Of course not, that’s not to be expected,” Toshinori replied, not modest at all. “But decent enough. We had hired a pianist, but he had to cancel last minute. Something about his wife being in labour. A poor excuse, but he is a poor person, so we’re not surprised.”  
Izumi squinted a little, not quite sure what to say to this. She thought it seemed like a perfectly adequate excuse.  
  
“Are you… asking me to play?” she asked instead, smiling slightly. “It seems like a lot of pressure.”  
“I think you will be fine,” Toshinori said, his tone reassuring. “I will of course be the opening act and play for about twenty minutes. Why don’t you go after, just a couple of songs?”  
“And you want me to _follow you_? Now there’s even more pressure,” Izumi laughed. She was afraid Toshinori might be overestimating her skill level.  
The small boy seemed to response well to flattery, because his smug smile got a little wider.  
“Heh. If it will make you feel any better, we can make that _awful_ celloist play after you. He is absolutely tone deaf. And then maybe, Kiriyama can… _Rap_ or something.”  
He spat out the last words with poorly disguised disgust, and the image was so funny Izumi burst out laughing.  
“Maybe,” she agreed. She had to admit that would be pretty great. “Thank you, Oda-kun. I can’t turn this down. I will go straight home and practice!”  
  
Toshinori seemed happy she had agreed, and the two said their goodbyes as Izumi left the classroom to meet up with her friends again. They all exchanged their gifts as usual before heading home, with plans to see each other already that weekend in some kind of sled race Shuya Nanahara and his friends had planned. Izumi wasn’t totally sure what it would entail, but Yukie seemed very excited. They would also see each other before New Years, to squeeze in one last girl’s night before the new year was here.

Izumi gave herself a couple of hours to practice once she got home. It had been a short day, thankfully, so she had some free time between now and their Christmas Eve meal. She picked a couple of her favourite songs, including Le Cygne, I Gioni, and Je Te Veux. If she was going to play, she really did want to put her heart in it. In between playing, she had taken the cookie from Mitsuru out of her bag. She considered eating it for good luck, but decided against it. Instead, she hid it securely in the drawer of her nightstand table, along with the note that came with it. She didn’t care if it made her a bit of a creep; she wanted to keep it.

The next day, Izumi arrived with her parents at the Oda family mansion. It looked as grand as she remembered from last year; it was even bigger than her own house, by quite a bit, and there seemed to be staff running around everywhere to help everyone out. Someone took Izumi’s coat and she thanked them, but it didn’t take long before someone else showed up with a non-alcoholic welcome drink and guided her family into the fancy dining hall. She noticed a grand piano in the corner, and her nerves were beginning to act up again.  
_It will be fine. There’s only about… A hundred people here to watch you. Oh, lord… D-Don’t freak out!_

Her parents were quick to disappear to mingle with their friends and associates, and Izumi found herself stand by the sidelines awkwardly. She noticed Kazuo Kiriyama was in a similar position to her at the opposite end of the room; though of course, he didn’t seem awkward at all. Instead, he seemed quite comfortable standing alone in a corner, observing everyone else. Izumi considered if she should walk up to him and ask him if he was seeing his friends at all during the break; maybe fish for some information about Mitsuru and how he was doing. But she thought that might be way too much.

Before she could fully make up her mind, Toshinori appeared next to her, seemingly out of no where.  
“Nervous?” he asked her, skipping the formal greeting. Izumi gave him a shaky smile.  
“Very. It looks great in here, by the way.”  
The dining hall had been transformed into what she guessed was a Winter Wonderland theme, where everything was white and silver and so very shiny.  
“Of course. We don’t do mediocre,” Toshinori said simply. “Do you have your sheet music with you?”  
  
Slightly confused, Izumi got her sheet music out of her bag, showing them to Toshinori. He hummed in confirmation as he flipped through them.  
“These are some very classy choices,” he said approvingly. “I’m sure everyone will enjoy these.”  
Izumi smiled in relief, feeling quite touched by his confidence. “Thank you! I sure hope so. If someone gets up and leaves, I will be pretty devastated,” she joked.  
“Then they will not be invited back,” Toshinori said with a huff. “Not everyone enjoys good music, but the least they can do is to be polite about it.”  
"Oh, I was only joking…” Izumi began, but was interrupted by Toshinori’s father calling for him.

“It’s time for me to begin,” Toshinori said, his eyes shining. Izumi thought it was admirable just how passionate he was about his music.  
“I would tell you good luck, but I doubt you need it,” she said, giving him a light pat on his shoulder. “So… Go for it!”  
Toshinori looked stunned for a moment, and Izumi worried maybe the pat had been too much. She wasn’t sure if Toshinori maybe thought she invaded his personal space. But then, he smiled.  
“Heh. Indeed. You go for it too,” he said with a small nod, before leaving towards the piano, where his violin-case and the stand for his sheet music were also placed.

Izumi listened to him play with great interest, clapping cheerfully as he finished. It was truly beautiful to listen to. Even if she didn’t listen to much classical music for fun, she did enjoy it when she heard someone play like this. It was something almost majestic about it, and it gave off a very different feel than music played by for example Shuya.  
During her own performance, Izumi thought she did an alright job too. She knew she fumbled a couple of the notes, but she quickly saved it. At the end, everyone cheered just as loudly as they had for Toshinori, which she took as a good sign. Blushing, she gave a small bow, before leaving the piano seat.  
  
“Splendid,” Toshinori told her later. “I don’t know what you were ever nervous about.”  
Again blushing a little at the praise, Izumi shook her head, wanting to dismiss the compliments as quickly as possible. “No, I… I don’t know –“  
“You were off five times during Je Te Veux,” a cold voice interrupted them. It was Kiriyama, who had quietly snuck up on them. “It was very noticeable.”  
“Oh,” Izumi said, blinking. Was he insulting her? Toshinori huffed loudly.  
“It was hardly noticeable at all,” he lied, looking agitated. “It’s not like you could do a better job.”  
“Actually, I could,” Kiriyama countered him, his tone still completely neutral. Izumi was surprised by this; she had no idea he played.

“Prove it,” Toshinori egged him on, nodding towards the piano. “Prove me wrong.”  
Kiriyama looked at the piano like he considered it, before shaking his head.  
“I don’t feel like it,” he said plainly. “Not now.”  
“What a surprise,” Toshinori muttered. He was obviously convinced Kiryama was all talk, but Izumi wasn’t sure what to believe. She was still just quietly looking at him, until he left without another word said. She didn’t even feel insulted by his comment about her slip-up; she was just confused. A lot about Kiryama seemed confusing.  
“I guess money can’t buy you class,” Toshinori sneered. Unlike her, he did seem clearly insulted. “Or talent. I don’t like that boy.”  
“I’m sure he has some… good qualities too,” Izumi insisted democratically. “Should we get some shrimp?”  
  
She had spent the rest of the evening in Toshinori’s company, except for when he had to mingle along with the rest of his family. When Izumi left that evening, Toshinori had suggested maybe they could play together next year.  
“I’d love that,” Izumi agreed with a smile. The whole evening had passed so quickly, and she almost forgot she had something other than her piano playing to be nervous about. It wasn’t until she went to bed, opening her nightstand drawer to get a hair tie out, that she saw the cookie and remembered.  
She picked it up and looked at it as she laid down on the bed, sighing deeply.  
_Now what will I do with you?_

* * *

The day before New Years Eve, it was time for the girls to all meet at Yukie’s place. Yukie and Chisato had come up with the idea that they could have themselves a little Christmas workshop and make cute decorations for next year, so everyone had gathered materials for ornaments, toilet roll Santas, ribbons, and other fun things. Yukie and her mother always went all out with Christmas decorations in the first place, and their house always wowed Izumi during the holidays. Even if Izumi’s mansion was also tastefully decorated, it was nothing compared to the lights and glitters of Yukie’s house.  
“I’m back in the Christmas spirit and it’s already over. What are you doing to me?” Izumi asked her jokingly as they all gathered around the living room table, their supplies spread out in front of them.

They were quick to get to work, everyone starting their individual projects. Izumi had gathered material for a toilet roll Santa, but her mind kept wandering. Finding it hard to concentrate on her Santa, who was already turning out to be quite hideous and pretty evil-looking, she kept taking small breaks to snack on Noriko’s cookies instead. Eating the cookies, she was reminded of what she had put off to do for so long, but thought she might just have to finally just jump into.  
Sending Mitsuru a thank you text.

She had thought about what she wanted to send Mitsuru for several days now. She knew she had to anyway, not just because she liked having an excuse to contact him, but because she would feel rude if she did not thank him at all. Fiddling with her phone under the table, she typed in the message she had prepared in her head before falling asleep yesterday.  
“Thank you so much for the Christmas Cookie! It was so thoughtful and delicious as always. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that you will have a very happy New Year.”  
Taking a deep breath, Izumi gave herself a little nod. She didn’t think it sounded too bad. But she didn’t think she could be brave enough to actually press send. That is why she had waited until this moment, after all. Copying the message, she removed it from the text box, leaving it empty. She didn’t even want to see it. Instead, she tapped Yuka gently on the shoulder.

“Yuka, I need you to send a text message from me,” Izumi whispered, immediately catching Yuka’s attention.  
“Oh, to a boy?” she replied teasingly, causing Izumi to hush her softly. She glanced around, but everyone else seemed busy with their own craft projects anyway.  
“No, it… It’s just something I’m nervous to send,” Izumi explained vaguely. “But you can’t look at the phone, alright? Promise?”  
Handing the phone with the blank text screen to Yuka, the other girl looked more and more intrigued.  
“Kaay… A bit weird, even for you. How do I know what to type? Can I make something up?”

  
To Izumi’s horror, it seemed like Yuka was about to write her own idea of a “funny” Christmas message down, and whilst pointedly not looking down at the screen at that. Izumi grabbed Yuka’s hand, shaking her head.  
“No! No, I’ve pre-written the message, I just can’t send it. So all you have to do is press down on the screen and tap it once, alright? And then the send button to the right. I know you text enough to know where that is!”  
  
Yuka hummed, showing her understanding of the mission. Izumi looked around the room nervously as Yuka sent her text for her. _Oh, grow up, Izumi…_ She cursed herself. _You can’t even talk to the boy over text. What’s wrong with you?!  
_“Done!” Yuka declared, giving Izumi back her phone. “Piece of cake.”  
She added in a whisper, leaning closer to Izumi: “Let me know if you get that booty call.”  
Izumi blushed, waving Yuka away with her hand while laughing. She glanced down at the phone, and her heart sank.

Looking down at the message, she could only see the mess she was in:  
“Thank you so much for the Christmas Cookie! It was so thoughtful and delicious as always. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that you will have a very happy New Year. “Thank you so much for the Christmas Cookie! It was so thoughtful and delicious as always. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that you will have a very happy New Year.” “Thank you so much for the Christmas Cookie! It was so thoughtful and delicious as always. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that you will have a very happy New Year.”  
By mistake, Yuka must have pressed down on the touch screen for far too long when copying in the message, and the text repeated itself at least ten times.

  
Izumi stared at her phone in horror, her eyes wide. No. Oh no. This had to be some sort of mistake.  
“What did you do?!” she exclaimed, feeling her heart in her throat. “  
“I did what you said! I held down my finger, ” Yuka replied, clearly not getting the problem. “What’s wrong?”  
“No, I said tap! I said tap!” Izumi yelled desperately. How could she repair this damage? She needed to text him and tell him this was some sort of technical error. But what technical error caused this issue? Maybe she should say she texted the wrong person and that this was some sort of weird inside joke. No, that didn’t make sense either, considering the message…

Her mind still racing, Izumi desperately tried to come up with anything to save the situation, when she felt her phone tugged out of her hand.  
“Izumi, what did I say? No phones! It’s quality time!” Yukie reprimanded her like a teacher would in class. “Next time I might get a box or something so we can all leave our phones there when we come inside. This is hopeless!”  
“Every day our group is less of a friendship group, and more and more of a fascist regime!” Yuka joked, causing the others to laugh.

Well, except Izumi.  
“Yukie, I just need to… I need to unsend a text. How do you do that?” she asked desperately.  
“That’s an easy one,” Satomi said, causing Izumi’s eyes to shine with hope, until she continued. “It simply can’t be done. Once it’s sent, it’s sent.”  
“Then I’m moving,” Izumi mumbled, absolutely mortified.  
“You can’t move, we’re just about to talk about everything we’re excited about for this next year,” Yukie told her seriously. “And you moving away is not one of those things!”  
  
Izumi gave a pathetic attempt at a smile, trying her best not to focus on her newest embarrassment, and instead paying all attention to her friends.  
“I would offer to start, but I can’t think of anything other than I’m looking forward to having one more week of not showing my face at school,” she complained dramatically.  
Her friends looked at her with slightly concerned expressions.  
“What on earth happen, Izu?” Haruka wondered. Izumi knew deep down she was being overly dramatic, and besides, she hadn’t told any of her friends about her small crush. Her tiny, insignificant crush… Which always made her heart both stop and beat faster at the same time, made her feel frozen yet way too warm, made it too hard to think of anything to say, or even think at all…  
“Nothing,” she quickly dismissed the question. “Haruka, why don’t you go first? Please?”  
  
“Obviously when we win the Junior High regional volleyball tournament this year,” Haruka said with a confident grin. “We’ll go out with a bang, right, Captain?”  
Yukie smiled back to her, giving her a little salute. “Without a doubt! How about you, Sato?”  
Satomi had finished making some elaborate DIY Christmas tree ornament in a bright red and golden colour, impressing Izumi with her craft skills. She hadn’t considered Satomi to be so creative too, but she was full of surprises.  
“Graduating,” Satomi said simply. “And starting High School. I’m looking forward to new challenges.”  
“And to hopefully all end up in the same class again!” Chisato chimed in. “I know that would be some crazy coincidence, but…  
“That reminds me, I’m excited for the trip we have talked about going on together,” Noriko said brightly, as she also finished one of the cute ornaments. “Our class trip this year was so much fun, I can’t wait to-“  
Noriko was interrupted by the sound of Izumi’s phone pinging, followed by a loud vibration sound. A text. Izumi felt her heart stop, as she looked at the other girls nervously.

“We should really keep her phones on silent,” Yukie commented, shaking her head. Again Izumi felt a little like she was at the principal’s office. “This is really –“  
Another ping, followed by the same vibration, alerted them of a second text. Somehow this only made Izumi feel even more nervous. Of course, maybe they weren’t both from him… In fact, maybe neither of them were. It could be her mother, or something…  
“Jeez, Izumi,” Yuka laughed. “Who’s even texting you? You have other friends than us?” She enhanced her point by counting everyone sitting by the table, looking puzzled.  
“It might be one of my parents,” Izumi said, not sure if that was a lie or not. “Can I just check it to make sure nothing happened? I promise I’ll turn it off straight after.”  
  
Yukie gave her permission, though she did not look too happy about Izumi ruining the Circle of Wishes or whatever she had dubbed this session. Izumi gave her an apologetic smile, accepting her phone from Yukie’s hands.  
“Thank you,” she mumbled, glancing down. Her heart was beating like crazy, not sure what to expect. With shaking hands, she opened the text. It took her a moment to fully take it in.  
It was indeed from Mitsuru, and the first text read:  
_“Your welcome. Glad you like it :)_ _Your welcome. Glad you like it :)_ _Your welcome. Glad you like it :)_ _Your welcome. Glad you like it :)_ “.  
It was repeated just as many times as her original _Thank you-_ message, and she heard herself laugh slightly.  
She could hear her friends talk again in the background, probably continuing their previous conversation about their hopes from next year. Izumi could barely hear any of it, too busy to take in this whole moment. The second message from Mitsuru was a simple: “And happy new year :)”. Her heart had slowed down its rapitd beating slightly. Instead, it was filled with warmth. 

“Izumi… You’re distracted again,” Yukie pointed out, with a sigh. Despite trying hard to seem annoyed, she had a small smile on her face, probably seeing how blissful Izumi looked. “Did you even pay attention?”  
“Of course!” Izumi insisted, feeling a bit guilty that she… Well, hadn’t. Her friends’ words had been nothing but background noise for most of the last five minutes. “We’re excited for more time together, and the class trip, and to graduate…”  
“See, she did listen!” Chisato exclaimed, patting Izumi’s arm supportively.  
_No, just lucky guesses…_ Izumi thought, letting out a breath of relief that she had gotten it right.  
  
Yukie seemed to buy it too, because her smile widened. “So what are _you_ most excited about next year then?” she asked her, curiously. The other girls looked at her expectantly too, definitely paying more attention than Izumi herself had.  
“Oh, I…” Izumi began. She hoped she wasn’t blushing, because all she could think about was the text from Mitsuru. It was as if her phone was burning in her hands from under the table, the heat spreading all the way to her face. Her eyes scanned all of her friends who were waiting patiently for her answer, before landing on Yukie. Smiling, Izumi gave her phone a soft squeeze. “I’m excited for _everything_. I think next year will be amazing.”

“That was certainly worth the wait,” Satomi deadpanned, as the others laughed.  
“Cheers to that, Izumi. Let’s take this next year by storm!” Yuka erupted happily, raising her glass of apple juice high into the air. Yukie raised hers too and met Yuka’s with a small _clink._  
“To us!” she agreed cheerfully.

Izumi was still smiling as she glanced down at the phone resting in her hands.  
_To us._  
  



End file.
